Period Hair presentation notes

1. What do I do with My Hair

Ponytail to period hair.
By Genevieve d'Aquitaine, jthies@umuc.edu

2. Hair as Foundation

• Hair is bound up and out of the way to keep it cleaner and tangle free.
• Hairstyles can be the foundation to certain hats, a starting not an ending point to looking more period.
• Hair treatments can help to stabilize even simple headgear.

Ponytails and simple braids are actually period too, depending on the circumstance.

3. Vocabulary

• Filets are horizontal bands encircling the crown of the head, earlier it was a simple band, but turned into an open pillbox hat.
• Cauls also change from buns on sides of head, to horned head dresses, to decorative bun covers on back of head.
• Coifs are close fitting cloth hats, simple in Viking times, tailored in 12-14th cent., stylized for Italians, and highly decorative for the 16th cent.

4. Viking

Valkyrie. Runestone from Alskog, Tjangvide, Gotland.

• Shows hair pulled into knotted ponytail, could argue that scarf is knotted and hair is tucked within
• Requires long hair or clever use of extensions

5. Viking cont.

Valkyrie on Horseback.Figure set above a pillar in the stave church at Urnes.

• Lines clearly shows hair is knotted, not a knotted scarf
• Long hair was a sign of stature, slaves (thralls) had hair cut

6. Viking cont.

• Silk cap from Coppergate digs
• Hats, scarves, or veil and a filet would have been worn
• Braids keep hair tucked under hat or veils, can anchor as well.

7. Normans, 12th Cent.

• Long set of braids
• Possibly used extensions
• Covered in braid cases; kept clean, and easily made longer than actual hair.
• Could be covered by veil and circlet

8. 12th Cent. Cont.

• Chartres Cathedral jamb statues, circa 1150
• Shows long braids, possibly in cases
• Pillbox shaped hat, possibly filet or crown

9. 12th Cent. cont.

Eleanor of Aquitaine, tomb effigy, circa 1200

• Crown, veil, barbette, hair is hidden, but likely arranged in a hair net

10. Maciejowski Bible, circa 1250

Shows a variety of women's hair styles

• Veils with and without wimples
• Wimples could be circular veil with hole cut for face, or rectangle pinned at top of head
• Longer veils draped around head
• Filet and Barbette
• Veils could be circular or rectangular

11. Maciejowski Bible, cont.

• Filet and barbette over loose hair
• Loose hair alone, but pulled away from face
• Servant/working woman veil in turban/cap arrangement

12. Maciejowski Bible, cont.

More images showing hair:

• Loose hair
• Veil and wimple
• Veil alone
• Veil wrapped up in solid hair net arrangement
• Veil tucked up like turban
• Hair covered even in bed

13. Early 14th Cent. Italian

Giotto's Life of Joachim, Meeting at the Golden Gate (detail), 1305

• Two braids brought from nape of neck to wrap around at forehead.
• Shallow hats, large veils/mantles.

14. Early Italian, cont.

Giotto's Life of the Virgin, Visitation, 1306

• Similar braid arrangement, 2 braids crossed over forehead
• Hair net
• Loose hair

15. Early 14th Cent.

Joan, Lady do Cobham, died 1320

• Veil and wimple over cauled hair
• Hair likely piled, coiled or braided to sides of head, over ears
• Hair net probably holds hair in place under veils

16. 14th Cent. French

Fragment of a Tomb Effigy of Marie de France (1327-1341), ca. 1381

• Flexible circlet around braids
• Circlet was likely jeweled
• Braids appear to be looped and tail of braid is against cheek

17. Mid 14th Cent. France

The Romance of Alexander illuminated by Jehan de Grise, Bodleian Library, circa 1344

• Ladies with and without veils, all have braids at temples

18. Mid 14th Cent. France, cont.

Lady at her Toilet, Luttrell Psalter, 1345

• Servant has simpler hair arrangement with plain veil
• Braids on either side of head arranged into coils or loops

19. 14th Cent. Working Women

Le four a Pains, Tacuinum Sanitatis, 1385

• Working women making bread
• Hair bound in braids, or ponytail under turban

20. Tres Riches Heures, April

Duc de Berry Hours, Limbourg Bros., circa 1415

• Padded roll over hair styled into horns
• Padded roll over simple braid, or loose hair

21. Tres Riches Heures, May

• Horned headdresses over hair styled into horns
• Styled hair alone, visible hair nets in enlarged versions

22. Tres Riches Heures, June

• Women working in field, casual clothing
• Turban over loose hair
• Veil over bound hair

23. Arnolfini marriage portrait

Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife (detail), Jan van Eyck, 1434

• Hair styled into horns, headdress or cauls over hair
• Layered ruffle-edge veils

24. German Altarpiece, Mid 1400's

Altarpiece of the Patron Saints of Cologne (detail), Stefan Lochner, 1440

• Hair arranged into elaborate cauls
• Simple braid under padded roll

25. Mid 15th Cent.- Bath House

Valerius Maximus, des faits des Romains, 15th century.

• Women bathing and sleeping with hair bound in turbans

26. Burgundian Lady

Portrait of a Lady, Rogier van der Weyden, 1455

• Hair is pulled back severely from face, likely in a bun
• Hat is small pillbox hennin, anchored using black loop, may be pinned to bun

27. Range of Burgundian Styles

Somme rurale de Jean Boutilier, Loyset Liedet, 1471, French
Range of Burgundian Styles

• Ponytail and headband for younger ladies
• Hennins in various shapes and sizes for marriagable or recently married ladies
• Cauls and veils or hoods for older married ladies

28. Later 15th cent. Italian

Portrait of a Young Woman, Botticelli, 1475

• Hair pulled back from face in bun or braids
• Covered with caul and/or sheer veil

29. 15th Cent. Italian, cont.

Portrait of Ginevra de' Benci. Leonardo da Vinci, 1475

• Hair parted in middle, pulled back into bun/braids in caul
• Loose hair/bangs curled around face

30. 15th Cent. Italian, cont.

Cossa, Francesco del, Allegory of March: Triumph of Minerva, c.1476-84, Fresco, Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara

• Working women, various styles
• Hair taped around head, styled into horns
• Hair braided and taped around head
• Turbans and coifs used to cover hair

31. Late 15th Cent. Flemish

Barbara Moreel and family, Hans Memling, 1484

• Truncated hennin and veil
• Black headbands with wire loops
• Hair style and dress denoted age

32. Late 15th Cent.

St. Ursula Shire: Arrival in Cologne, Hans Memling, 1489

• Ponytails, with or without padded rolls
• Cauls or looped braids on most important lady

33. Late 15th Cent. German

Mein Agnes, Albrecht Durer, 1494

• Sketch of lady with loose hair gathered in simple braid
• Likely a very informal setting with loved one.

34. Early 16th Cent. Italian

Portrait of Barbara Pallavicino, A. Araldi, 1510

• Jewel studded circlet over caul that extends to braid case.
• Circlet helps keep hair back out of eyes, ensures a well defined part, and helps to hold the caul on

35. Early 16th Cent. Italian

Portrait of a Woman, V. Carpaccio, 1510

• Venetian style to pile taped hair on top instead of back of head
• Bangs in front or left loose on sides, often curled

36. Early 16th Cent. Flemish

Portrait of a Man and Woman (detail) , Joos van Cleve, 1527

• Hair remains pulled back into braid or bun
• Headband likely used to anchor reverse creased veil at top and back of head

37. 16th Cent. German

Saxon Princesses Sibylla, Emilia and Sidonia. Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1535

• Hair bound up and then covered by cauls
• Or braided and crossed over head, possibly pinned to a circlet

38. Mid 16th Cent. Italian

Portrait of Lucrezia Panciatichi, A. Bronzino, 1540

• Hair is parted in middle and taped up across top of head
• Could be covered in a caul as well
• Jewel adornment over her head, much like a low lying tiara

39. Mid 16th Cent. English

Portrait of an Unknown Lady, Hans Holbein the Younger, 1541

• Hair parted in middle, likely back half is in a bun
• French hood worn over hair, may use chin strap to hold on
• Tudor gable head dress would likely have used similar hairstyle for base

40. Mid 16th Cent. Spanish

Self-Portrait, Sofonisba Anguissola, 1554

• Hair is parted in middle of forehead and drawn back into braids, a bun or a caul

41. 16th Cent. Flemish Peasants

The Peasant Dance, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1568

• Reverse creased veils used 40 years later by working class as simple veils or piled into turbans

42. 16th c. English Townspeople

Marriage Fete at Bermondsey, Joris Hoefnagel, 1569

• Ladies wearing coifs over bound hair.
• Some have tall hats over their coifs

43. Late 16th Cent. French

Elizabeth of Austria, Queen of France, Francois Clouet, 1571

• Hair parted in middle and twisted back from face
• Caul covers bun and tucked in hair

44. Archeological Evidence

• Many many combs, Viking to 16th cent.
• False hair circa 1430, braids attached to woven silk band, MoL book item # 1450
• Hair pins, straight and U shaped, all types of metals used
• Wire frames of head dresses:
• Tudor Gable wire frame
• 14th Cent. Cauls, silk covered copper alloy wire with traces of a silk veil
• Iron wire circlet covered in silk wrapped wire decoration.

45. Lessons:

1. Avoid common snood; style/bind hair within a hair net to give shape.
2. Match hair to time period and vocation.
• Turbans with court sideless surcote=bad
• Turbans with short sleeved kirtles in kitchen=good
3. Even simple styles can be elegant.
4. Use hair to anchor head dress.
5. Straight pins are your friends.

46. Additional Resources

Viking Answer Lady on Hair: http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/hairstyl.htm

Aenor on 12th c. Women's Headgear: http://www.angevintreasures.com/aenor/womenhead.htm

Hat and Hair articles by Cynthia Virtue: http://www.virtue.to/articles/

Italian Renaissance Hair Taping by Margo Farnsworth: http://www.mfgraffix.com/hird/faoilt/hairtape.html

Elizabethan Costuming Page, Drea Leed: http://costume.dm.net/content.html#headwear

Web Gallery of Art, inspiration: http://www.wga.hu/index1.html

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